One Night at a Time
by RedLovesGHOLTL
Summary: This is my first CSI fanfic. It follows the show up through "Genetic Disorder". Everything after that is different. It will explore the personal and professional lives of the CSIs. Please read and review. Rated T to be safe.
1. Chapter 1

**This is my first CSI fanfic. It follows the show up through "Genetic Disorder" so Catherine is in it. It will explore the personal and professional lives of the CSIs. Reviews and suggestions are always welcome.**

**I don't own anything.  
**

* * *

Chapter 1

"That's absurd," Morgan said to Greg as Sara walked into the locker room.

"What's absurd?" Sara asked as she opened her locker.

Greg looked up at Sara and told Morgan, "ask her."

"What?" Sara asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Greg seems to think that Nick ditched us for breakfast because he has a secret girlfriend," Morgan explained.

Sara laughed, "I'm with Morgan on this one Greg. Ditching one breakfast does not equal secret girlfriend. Besides didn't you two skip breakfast last week. Does that mean the two of you are secretly dating?"

"I had a headache," Greg responded, "eggs plus headache would not end well."

"I had to mentally prepare myself to have dinner with my dad that night," Morgan said stoically.

Sara stared at her for a second, "Anyway, I'm sure Nick has a logical explanation too."

Greg shook his head, "I'm telling you two, something is going on with him."

"With who?" Nick asked walking into the locker.

All three turned to look at him.

"Uh, Hodges," Morgan answered quickly.

"Yeah, he's been acting weird lately, Weird even by Hodges' standards," Greg added.

"I'll talk to him later. See what's up," Nick said cheerily as he tossed stuff into his locker.

"You want to find out what's wrong with Hodges?" Sara asked in confusion.

"I just happen to be in a good mood. So why not help out a troubled friend," he shut his locker and headed for the door, "I've got to meet Catherine at a 419 in Henderson. Have a good night."

Greg looked from Sara to Morgan, "Tell me that wasn't weird."

"Greg," Sara sighed.

"He called Hodges his friend," Greg reminded her.

"I still think you're reading too much into it," Sara said as she turned to leave, "I'm gonna go find D.B."

Greg looked up at Morgan and noticed the funny look on her face, "What's wrong with you?"

"I think you might be right," Morgan shook her head, "or maybe I'm just paranoid about being found out."

"That reminds me," Greg smirked, "I don't remember you having dinner with your dad last week."

Morgan smirked back, "You mean like how I don't remember you having a headache?"

Greg grinned at her, "Funny how that works isn't it?"

"Uh-huh," she said as she shut her locker, "we should probably get to work."

Greg laughed, "Probably a good idea."

* * *

Nick walked under the police tape in front of a small ranch house and spotted Brass. "Hey, what have we got?" he asked.

Brass looked up, "Vic is Shawn Ashton. 35. Lives alone. Neighbors heard gunshots and called 911. Looks like some put a couple of bullets in the back of his head. I'm going to go talk to some more of the neighbors. See if they saw anything. Catherine's inside."

"Thanks," Nick said as he headed inside. He walked into the small hallway of the house and called out, "Catherine?"

"In here Nicky," she responded.

Nick followed her voice to the small office at the back of the house where her and David were with the victim who was slumped over at his desk in front of the computer with apparent gunshot wounds to his head, "Hey Cath. Super Dave."

Catherine looked up from her camera, "Hey, are you okay?"

Nick looked at her confused, "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Well, you skipped breakfast this morning so I thought you might be sick," she said as she put the camera down.

"I just didn't want breakfast this morning," Nick explained as he put his kit down.

"It's just you never miss breakfast," Catherine reminded him as she picked up a swab. "What's that yellow stuff on his face David?"

"I don't know," David responded as he turned the victim's head so she could swab the substance. He looked up at Nick, "I never miss breakfast with Mrs. Phillips. She makes the best omelets in Vegas."

"I bet," Nick grinned before answering Catherine, "so I missed one breakfast. You miss breakfast all the time. So does Sara. Last week both Greg and Morgan missed breakfast."

Catherine held up her hands, "Okay. No reason to get all defensive. I was just making sure you weren't sick or something."

"Thanks for your concern but I'm fine," Nick assured her.

"According to liver temp your vic has been dead for less then two hours," David told them.

"Well, that fits with the 911 calls," Catherine said as she surveyed the room.

"How do you let someone walk up behind you and shoot you in the head," Nick asked.

"Cause the killer stood outside the window," D.B. said causing all three in the room to jump. He was peering in at them from the open window.

"Who leaves a window with no screen in it open?" Catherine asked.

"Well maybe the killer opened it," D.B. suggested.

"And Mr. Ashton didn't hear it?" Nick asked unconvinced.

"Maybe he was playing something on his computer," D.B. answered, "Missed you at breakfast this morning Nick. You okay?"

"I'm fine D.B. I'm gonna go check the rest of the house. See if anything is missing or out of place," he answered. He turned and walked out the room while silently reminding himself never to miss breakfast with the team again without a good explanation.

* * *

"Maybe he's dating someone that works in the lab or at PD," Greg suggested as he, Sara, and Morgan walked up the driveway of a two-story house in Seven Hills.

"Or maybe he just doesn't want us to know he's dating someone," Morgan replied.

"I thought you didn't believe Nick had a secret girlfriend," Sara asked her as they walked into the house where Detective Vartann was with the victim.

"I'm just exploring all possibilities," Morgan shrugged, "isn't that what a good investigator does?"

Vartann looked up at them with a look of curiosity on his face.

Sara shook her head, "Don't ask."

He pointed up at their victim who was hanging from the balcony on the second floor, " Leslie Davis. 37. Private Investigator. Her fiancé found her."

"Well," Greg said looking up at the body, "I'm guessing she didn't hang herself since her hands are tied behind her back."

"Yeah there are signs of a struggle upstairs," Vartann responded.

"Where's the fiancé?" Sara asked.

"He's on the patio. Name is Tim Worthington." he answered.

"I'm going to go talk to him," Sara told them as she walked towards the patio.

"Yeah, we'll process upstairs," Morgan said as she look up at Leslie Davis, "we can't get her down until the coroner gets here anyway."

Vartann looked at Morgan and Greg, "I'm going to go talk to the neighbors. See if they saw or heard anything." He started towards the door but turned around, "If you two think someone has a secret girlfriend it's either because it's true or because you're paranoid." Then he turned and walked out the door leaving them speechless. He grinned. He would have to tell Catherine that she was right.

* * *

**Does Nick have a secret girlfriend or is it something else? Do you think Hodges is really behaving strangely or were they just making up an excuse for Nick? How did Catherine know about Greg and Morgan? Theories and reviews are welcome. **


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks to JennaTN for the review.**

**Here's Chapter 2. The characters thoughts are in italics. I own nothing. Please Read and Review!**

* * *

"Hey Hodges," Nick said as he walked into the trace lab.

Hodges jumped and knocked a stack of papers off the table, "Geez, Nick. Did you have to sneak up on me?"

Nick raised an eyebrow at him, "Are you okay man?"

Hodges grabbed the fallen papers, "Yeah…umm…no…I'm not sure," he said while straightening the papers into a stack.

"What's going on?" Nick asked.

Hodges sighed, "My mom is moving back to Vegas and I might have led her to believe that I'm dating someone. Like seriously dating someone."

Nick chuckled, "Why would you do that?"

Hodges shrugged, "So she wouldn't worry about me and nag me about finding a nice girl."

Nick laughed and shook his head, "You realize that you need to tell her the truth right?"

"I could do that," Hodges said with a shrug, "or I could find a pretend girlfriend in the next couple of days."

"Why do you just tell her that you broke up with your non-existent girlfriend?" Nick suggested.

Hodges nodded, "That could work."

"Or you could just tell her the truth," Nick suggested again.

Hodges shook his head, "Nah, I like the 'I broke up with her cause she cheated on me' idea better."

"You're going to make the non-existent girlfriend you broke up with a cheater?" Nick asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, if I'm going to lie to my mom I might as well go all the way," Hodges replied.

Nick shook his head, "Whatever works for you."

"What do you have for me?" Hodges asked pointing to the evidence bag in Nick's hand.

"Catherine found a yellow substance on the vic's face," Nick answered handing the bag to him, "see if you can identify it between plotting lies to your mother."

"Will do," Hodges answered with a smirk.

"Uh-huh," Nick said as he turned and left_. I hope that whatever Hodges plans on telling his mother doesn't blow up in his face_. _Who am I to judge? I'm not being honest with everyone myself._

* * *

"I think there's a million pieces of this glass," Morgan said as she picked another piece out of the carpet.

"Well, you can have fun putting them all together to figure out what it is," Greg said with a smirk.

Morgan rolled her eyes, "Thanks."

"I thought you liked puzzles," he asked as he picked up a cable laying on the desk.

"Not this much," she said as she picked up another piece of glass and looked up at him, "what have you got?"

"Laptop cable but no laptop," Greg said holding up the cable.

"I don't see a laptop case either," Morgan said as she scan the room, "might be downstairs."

"Yeah," he answered as he looked around the room.

"How do you think Vartann knows?" Morgan asked as she dropped another piece of glass in the evidence bag.

"I don't know," Greg answered with a shrug, "unless…maybe Catherine knows."

Before Morgan could answer Sara walked in, "Maybe Catherine knows what?"

"Umm…if she knows what is going on with Nick," Morgan quickly covered.

Sara groaned, "Are you two still on that?"

"We can process and gossip at the same time," Greg joked.

"You find anything downstairs?" Morgan asked.

Sara shook her head, "Nothing. No forced entry. Whatever happened it happened up here."

"Did you see a laptop downstairs?" Greg asked.

Sara shook her again, "Killer must have took it."

"Well she was a PI so either what was on the laptop was worth killing for or the laptop had information that could identify the killer," Greg theorized as he bagged the laptop cable.

"Or the fiancé did it and took the laptop to cover up the crime," Morgan suggested as she picked up another piece of glass.

"Yeah," Sara sighed, "I'm going to see if the Coroner is here yet. Are you two almost finished?"

Morgan picked up another piece of glass and glared at her.

Greg tried not to laugh, "It might be awhile. There's a lot of glass in the carpet."

"Okay," Sara said as she heard a noise downstairs, "that sounds like David," she said before turning and leaving.

Greg looked over at Morgan as she continued to pick up glass. He shook his head and walked over to help her. "What ever this was had to be kind of big."

"Yeah," Morgan sighed, "if Catherine and Vartann know, who else knows?"

Greg shrugged, "I don't know. Apparently we're not very good at keeping secrets."

"Great," Morgan groaned as she picked up another piece of glass. _This is going to take forever._

* * *

"Hey, Doc. How was New York?" Catherine asked as she walked into autopsy.

Doc Robbins looked up from examining the body on the table, "Great. Judy and I hit all the tourist spots. The Statue of Liberty, Times Square, The Met…"

"Did you go to a Yankee's game?" Catherine asked with a smile.

"Had a foot long hotdog and a beer," he said as he put his glasses back on.

"Sounds like you had a great time," Catherine answered. _At least someone is able to have a vacation._

"We did," he answered looking down at the body on his table, "unfortunately Mr. Ashton's great times are done."

"Well, other then the obvious gunshot wound to the head what else can you tell me?"

"He has an abrasion on his right arm," he said as he lifted Mr. Ashton's arm, "happened perimortem."

"Well, he was sitting at a desk and when we got there his right arm was hanging at his side," Catherine pondered, "maybe his arm slipped when he was shot."

"Could be," Doc Robbins picked up a an evidence bag containing a bullet, "pulled this from his frontal lobe."

Catherine took the bag from him, "Looks like a 9 mil. I'll take it to Ballistics. Maybe we'll get lucky. Thanks Doc," she said with a smile before turning and leaving. _Just once I would like to get a hit in IBIS and it lead straight to the killer. It's ever that easy. Nothing is ever that easy._

* * *

"This is going to take forever," Morgan groaned as she and Sara spread the pieces of glass out on the table in the layout room.

Sara sighed, "Do you have any idea what it could possibly be?"

Morgan shook her head, "It could be anything. All I know is that it was thrown against the wall in Leslie Davis' bedroom. The carpet nor the wall were wet or stained so there was no liquid in it or on it. There was no blood on the carpet or glass. And according to the fiancé nothing is missing except her laptop."

"Maybe the killer brought it?" Sara suggested.

"Maybe," Morgan shrugged, "this is going to require a lot of time and coffee breaks."

"Perhaps you should get more sleep and you wouldn't need so much coffee," Sara smirked.

"I get plenty of sleep," Morgan replied defensively, "you know, when I'm not working."

"I've just noticed you've seen a little tired lately," Sara replied.

"Well, this job can be draining sometimes," Morgan reminded her. _Oh my god, she knows. Does the whole lab know?_

"Yeah, I know," Sara sighed again.

"If the killer threw what ever this is, maybe we can get some DNA off of it?" Morgan pondered.

"That would be great," Sara answered picking up a piece of glass, "where do we start?"

"Well, some of it has a bluish tint and some doesn't. So maybe if we sort it out by color it will be a little easier," Morgan suggested.

"I don't have a better idea so it works for me," Sara held up a piece of glass, "I'll take the clear."

"Guess I've got blue," Morgan said as she reached for two pieces of blue glass. _It's gonna be a long night._


End file.
